PACE rapporteurs strongly condemn the execution of Kiryl Kazachok

09.03.2018

Yves Cruchten (Luxembourg, SOC), General Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the abolition of the death penalty, and Andrea Rigoni (Italy, ALDE), former PACE rapporteur on the situation in Belarus, have strongly condemned the execution of Kiryl Kazachok, which allegedly took place in October 2017. Mr Kazachok was sentenced to death in December 2016 for killing his two children during a family dispute, whilst intoxicated.

“Once again we stand firm against any death sentence imposed by the Belarusian judiciary and any executions carried out in that country. The execution of Kiryl Kazachok is all the more shocking since it took place secretly in October 2017, while the relatives of the convicted were only informed recently,” said the rapporteurs.

“The death penalty is a cruel and inhuman punishment, which is no longer acceptable in Europe. We reiterate our call to the Belarusian authorities to urgently put in place a moratorium on executions and to abolish the death penalty both de facto and de jure,” the rapporteurs concluded.